MIAMI – A general surgeon and a gynecological surgeon at South Miami Hospital recently performed back-to-back operations on a patient while using the SPIDER Surgical System, resulting in the successful removal of both her gallbladder and a large ovarian cyst.

The tag-team cooperative effort meant surgeons made just a small, single incision hidden within the patient’s belly button. Had the surgeons performed the two procedures together using traditional laparoscopic instruments, they would have needed to make up to six abdominal incisions.

Surgeons participating were Dr. Juan-Carlos Verdeja and Dr. Thomas D. Horst. The operation – which took place June 10 – also marked the first time the new SPIDER System was used for a gynecological procedure.

Here’s how the SPIDER System works: The surgeon makes one small incision inside the patient’s belly button and inserts the device. Once inside the abdomen, the surgeon expands the SPIDER System like an umbrella. Expansion allows the surgeon to introduce and use different instruments and navigate abdominal structures through that one small incision. And unlike first-generation single-incision laparoscopic systems, surgeons using the SPIDER System aren’t forced to move their hands in the opposite direction they want to operate.

When finished, the surgeon closes the SPIDER System and removes it through the same single incision.

Verdeja and Horst said that hiding the small incision within a patient’s belly button improves cosmetic outcome. Fewer incisions also typically result in less post-surgical pain and help patients return to normal activity more quickly, they added.

The SPIDER System recently was featured on the national TV talk show, “The Doctors,” and has been profiled in Esquire magazine by America’s favorite surgeon, Dr. Oz. Surgeons worldwide are using the device to treat obesity and colon cancer, and to remove kidneys and gallbladders. Its flexible instruments and triangulation capability are proprietary technologies not available in any other surgical system on the market. Learn more at http://www.spidersurgery.com.

About South Miami Hospital
South Miami Hospital was one of the first hospitals in the world to offer patients advanced minimally invasive surgery with the SPIDER System. South Miami Hospital is a Magnet Hospital for nursing excellence and houses the Center for Women & Infants, a center of excellence in women’s health. The 467-bed hospital is part of Baptist Health South Florida, the largest not-for-profit health-care organization in South Florida. To learn more, visit http://www.baptisthealth.net.

About TransEnterix
In less than three years, TransEnterix has grown from a startup enterprise into a cutting-edge medical device company that has raised $60 million in venture capital funding and successfully commercialized operations in the United States and European Union. The company partners with medical thought-leaders worldwide to rapidly develop pioneering technologies that advance minimally invasive surgery. Visit http://www.transenterix.com.